Over the course of four game drives I was able to see the big five in one day and the rest of the wildlife in Kruger Park. During our game drives I spotted zebras, impalas, wildebeests, giraffes, hippos, wart hogs, baboons, spiders, crocodile, tortoise and beautiful flora.
The impalas are lean with a beautiful tan skin and cute little ears. Their run is a sight to see with their unique hoping forward action. You are guaranteed to see impalas on every game drive. I become spoiled and thought to myself, “dang more impalas”.
The zebra don’t look like your typical image of a white and black zebra. The African Zebra have brown skin between their black stripes. It makes since for them to be tan from the scorching sun they’re exposed to daily. It was interesting to see them because a few days earlier I was eating Zebra.
The wildebeest were more on the shy side and took off when we were around nevertheless it was cool to see one up close.
The wart hogs were quick on their feet and I was totally caught off guard when I saw them. It reminded me of Lion King when they ran into a clearing. I must say Disney did a great job of capturing the African wild life.
Baboons are so intriguing to me; they say there intelligence level is right below humans. I was the most nervous around them, prior to visibly seeing them they kept making loud screaming noises. Even though we were well protected my heart started to beat a little fast. I thought planet of the apes was about to happen and they would swing out the trees and attack me. When they finally appeared they didn’t pay us any attention.
The best part of the game drive were the three times we got out of the range rover and tracked animals on foot. The first time we exited the vehicle was to track a rhino. Our tracker Brian would give us the ground rules: keep quiet, walk in a straight line and turn off all beeps on our cameras.
Spotting the Rhino was fascinating seeing him from eye level and grasping how big he is. During the track we saw giraffe and an astonishing thing happened, while standing 50 yards away from the giraffe, they ran from us.
When we were in the range rover they would eat, stare or pay us no attention. But when we’re on foot they feared us and hauled tail away from us. Brian would explain it is a natural instinct to run from centuries of being hunted by humans.
The second time we tracked an African elephant, which was another amazing experience. Brian also explain the likely hood for a human to get killed by an African elephant is greater then a lion or leopard. Needless to say I was extremely careful not to startle the elephant.
The third time was probably my favorite when we came to a river with a gang of hippos. They would stare and pop in and out of the water keeping a close eye and marking their territory. Hippos can hold their breath underwater for seven minutes at a time.
Right before we left I was able to get footage of the hippo yawning and it was awesome to see his mouth open to a flat 180-degree angle. Prior to this encounter the closet I had been to a hippo was playing the game Hungry Hungry hippo as a child now I’m 20 yards away.
All the little things of the birds, flora, tortoise and crocodiles add the to the experience of being in the bush. I would definitely suggest visiting Singita in Kruger Park if the budget permits.
After the evening game drive the Singita Lebombo staff surprised us with a sunset picnic on Green Apple Hill. The food spread was beautiful and delicious! My concierge Lucky remembered I like Rose and brought two bottles for us to enjoy. The picnic was a wonderful way to top off a surreal experience with nature.
Photo credit: Darodi and Pause the Moment